We happened to go to the Farmer's Market the other day, as we do every week, but this time we were about to have one of those sudden, tropical New York City summer downpours. (If you live here, you know what we mean.) When at the Farmer's Market, this means you are at the right place at the right time. Desperate to close up shop and go home before the rain, one farmer gave us a berry special where we could buy 8 boxes of juicy raspberries, blackberries and black currants for ten dollars.
Like a woman visiting the animal shelter who goes home with two cats instead of one, we bought up all these beautiful summer berries.
In order not to waste, we spontaneously made some of them into a quick mixed berry tart. Yes, you can make a spontaneous tart! It is actually one of the easiest things to make. If you are in a hurry, just use a quality frozen pie crust. If you have a little more time, there is a wonderful baking blog called The Boastful Baker where you can learn how to make more complex tarts with homemade crusts. We followed the Boastful Baker Melissa McKelvey's simple berry filling recipe to make a tart in a hurry:
Quick Berry Tart
Ingredients (for an 11″ tart)
- 4 1/2 cups mixed berries (use any combination you like)
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar (I prefer to cut this by half so it isn't too sweet)
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon rind
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 Frozen pie crust
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pre-bake the frozen crust for ten minutes or less, remove from oven before it overcooks.
2. Make the filling. Stir together sugar and flour until mixed. Stir in the berries, lemon rind and juice. Pour the mixture over pre-baked pie crust.
3. Place tart in the oven on a cookie sheet or pizza pan large enough to catch any juices that might bubble over. Bake until tart edges are golden brown, about 20-25 minutes.
4. Cool to room temperature before slicing and eating.
Thanks Melissa!
